Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
She was standing outside the gift shop with another one of the girls who worked for Smokey. They’d both changed and were both dressed in long plaid dresses, white bonnets, and white aprons. They reminded me of characters from Little House on the Prairie as they demonstrated the fine art of churning butter.
A stream of wicked thoughts drifted through my mind as I watched her voluptuous breasts bounce as her hands pumped the wooden churn. Unable to resist the temptation, I walked over to get a closer look.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her as I stood there with a smirk on my face. Sadly, it wasn’t long before she noticed that I was watching her, and she immediately stopped churning. A look of anger mixed with embarrassment crossed her face as she grumbled, “Umm, can I help you with something?”
“Nope. I was just enjoying the view.”
She glared at me for a moment, then shook her head and said, “Well, I think it’s time for you to go find another view.”
“I don’t know. I really like this one.” I let my eyes rake over her as I teased, “I mean, it’s not every day that you get to see a pilgrim make butter.”
She tugged at the snug-fitting fabric of her dress and sassed, “Oh, he has jokes. I didn’t take you to be the comedian type.”
“What can I say? I’m a man of many facets.”
“Are you always such a pain in the ass or is today just a special day?”
“Jules,” the girl next to her gasped. “There are kids around.”
“Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.” Jules’ angry scowl grew even more intense as she glared at me and asked, “Don’t you have somewhere you need to be?”
“Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do.”
With that, I turned and walked away.
I should’ve been pleased that I finally knew her name, but once again, our exchange wasn’t exactly a good one. In fact, it couldn’t have gone worse. I decided then and there I was done wasting my time on a chick who was clearly revolted by the very sight of me.
As much as I wanted to leave, I couldn’t.
I’d come to help Smokey, and I wasn’t about to get derailed by a bad encounter with a chick. With a newfound focus, I headed over to Maverick and the others, then helped them finish working on the kiddie train. It was just an old mower with several colored barrels attached behind it. Each had the center cut out and had a makeshift seat. There was no doubt that the kids would love riding in it, so we were all pleased to see that they’d managed to get it up and running.
“That should do it.” Maverick revved the engine a couple of times, then said, “Now, we just need a driver.”
I had nothing else better to do, so I said, “I can do it.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I just need to know the route.”
“Just follow the path through the north gate,” Smokey answered. “It’ll take you through the orchard and back to the barn. That’s where the parents will meet up with you.”
“Okay, I can handle that.”
“Great.” Smokey motioned his hand toward the side gate as he said, “Just pull it over there and wait. Shouldn’t be long before you have a full load.”
I nodded, then got on the mower and drove it over to the gate. I parked, and just like Smokey assured me, it wasn’t long before folks started streaming in, and I was bombarded with kids.
I didn’t mind.
It was nice to have a distraction—especially when Jules was watching my every move. Hell, she hadn’t taken her eyes off me. By the way she was looking at me, you’d think the chick was into me, but I knew better. The girl hated me, and after she’d blown me off for a second time, I wasn’t feeling all that warm and fuzzy about her either.
Which was one of the reasons I’d ignored her stares and focused on driving the kids through the orchard. It wasn’t so bad. Smokey’s place was pretty incredible. He’d put a lot of heart into it, and it showed. The trees were overflowing with full, ripe apples, and people were buzzing to get their hands on them. As I looked around at all the smiles, I could see why so many kept coming back year after year.
I kept driving until the sun finally set, and the crowds started to disperse. I parked it and went over to Smokey and the others. “You had quite a turnout.”
“Yeah, we did,” Smokey replied with a smile. “Even bigger turnout than last year.”
“Yes, but that just means more to clean up.” MJ grimaced as she looked around and said, “I don’t know how we’re going to get all this done.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll get it,” Clutch assured her. “But it’s gonna cost ya.”